Shoe stiffener and shoe



May 24, 1932.

L. P. MELLERIO SHOE STIFFENER AQND SHOE Filed Aril 23; 1929 Patented May 24, 1932 sins LUCIEN PAUL MELLERIO, OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MA- CHINE-RY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY snon r s'rfrnnnnn AND snon Application filed April 23, 1929, Serial No. 357,525, and in Great. Britain May 16, 1928.

This invention relates tofa stiffener for shoes and to ashoe having a portion of its upper stiffened in a particular manner.

In order to facilitate the manufacture of a shoe containing a thermoplastic toe stiffener it is desirable that the stiffener shouldsoften relatively easily under the influence of heat and should remain in a softened condition for a suitable period of timeafter having been withdrawn from the source of heat. the other hand, after the stiffener has been incorporated in a shoe and there is no further need to cause the stiffener to soften, itis desirable-that it should be as little susceptible times exhibit the deformities referred to Thermoplastic toe stiffeners may be graded roughly into two classesthose very easy to work but lacking somewhat in resistance to heat to which the finished shoe may be exyp posed, and those markedly less easily workable but much moreresistant to the effects of heat which the shoe may have to encounter. The difference in the thermoplasticity of the two grades ofstifieners need-not be very great to be effective. the range of temperature in which obj ectio'nable softening of the'stiffener in the finished shoe is liable to occur lies between 100 and 130 F; and the difference between a satisfactory stiffener and an unsatisfactory one would be that the satisfactory stifiener'would resist objectionable softening somewhere in this range at a temperature ten degrees higher than would the unsatisfactory one.

It is an object of the present invention to 7 provide improved stifli'eners which are workable as easily as is the one grade above-mentioned and at the same time resist Ob]eCl31OIl For example,

able softening when in the shoe as reliably as does the other grade. i

In order to produce a stiffened toe portion of an upper which shall resist unusual heat it is unnecessary that astiffening substance" of the same heat-resisting quality be used throughout the whole of the, stiffener. The

toe portion of the upperneedsbracing principally in a region extending crosswise of the upper and adjacent to but spaced from the rear edge of the stiffener and in another region extending lengthwise of the upper from the toeend thereof. Moreover, these regions, in which the toe portion of the upper needs the most bracing, are precisely the regions in which thematerials of theupper and'of the stiffener need the least manipulating during their conformation to the toe portion of the last and in which, therefore,

a thermoplastic stiffener least needs to be of the easy working type. The absence of a need for easy working qualities in the regions i mentioned above is due to the fact that the powerful pulls ofthe pulling-over machine, applied as they are promptly after the softening of the stiffener, are capable of effecting the entire conforming of the upper and thestiffener to the last in these regions even though the thermoplastio materialin these regions may not be of the easy working t e. r

On the other hand along the lasting mar gin of the stiffener between the points at the toe end and the points at the sides where the pulling-over machine tacks finally secure these parts of the stiffener in position, the

stiffener should be easily softened by heat 'and should maintain its soft condition for an appreciable time to permit theproper operation of the lasting machine; and the same requirement for easy working qualities holds 7 true for all those regions which are not drawn tightly about the toe portionof the last by the pulling-over operation.

According, therefore, to one feature of the invention there is provided atoe stiffener having a reinforcement adapted to produce in the upper in which the stiffener isincorporated a region which is stiffer than other regions, said reinforcement extending along stiffener, and

the lines of pull of the usual pulling-over machine which has three spaced grippers adapted to engage the toe end and two side portions of the stiffener. The illustrated stiffener comprises a fabric base impregnated with thermoplastic material'of the easy working type and having a reinforcement which may consist of thermoplastic material of a less easy working type, in the region of the two. bands mentioned above so as to extend porated therein a stiffener like that shown in Figure 1.. 7 7

Referring first to Fig. 1, the stiffener is of the usual shape and has the usual skived or otherwise beveled rear margin 3 located between the dotted line 5 and therear edge 7. The lasting margin-of the stiffener, by which is meant that portion ofit which isilasted over upon the insole of the shoe, isthe arcu-ate strip or region which lies between the dotted line 9, extended to meet the rear edge of the stiffener at 13 and 1:5, and the cnrved'f-nont and sideedges of the stiffener indicated by the full line 17 The region bounded by this lasting margin is the upper-stiffening region 'of the stiffener which, in thefinished shoe, lies beneath thetoe portion of the upper. The reinforced regionis that lyingbet-ween' the dot-and dash line 19, 21 and the :two-dot-a'nd dash lines .23, 25 and 27, 29. This region, it will be noted is of ageneral T shape, and might be of exactly T' shape, with the crossbar of the T extending crosswise of the'stiffener andspaced somewhat from the rear edge 7 thereof and with the stem of the T extending rearwardly from :the' toe end of the stiffener and meeting the cross-bar at a locality substantially half way between itsends. The reinforced region in Fig.1 has the angles included between the cross-bar and the stem of'the T'fi-lled in tosome extent; and, if desired, these angles may *be filled in until the region becomes substantially a triangle with its base spacedsomewhat fromfthe :reared'gc of :the stiffener and its apex at the forward 7 end. The three ends or :corners of such ;a

region as has been describedabovevmayabut the inner edgesof the lasting .mar in or may overlap it to an extent or 111Iy 8XtGI1Cl tO?t-l10 outer'edge of the stiffener.

1g. 2 shows'a "SilliIBHQl" having azrein'forced region which, while still substantially T shaped, is of a different outline from that of the reinforced region of the stiffener shown in Fig. 1. In the stiffener shown in Fig. 2, the reinforced region is the region lying between the dot-and-dash line 31, 33 and the'two dot-and-dash lines 35, 37 and 39, a1, the boundary line 31, 33 beingcurved away from the rear edge 43 of the stiifener so as to producea stiffener having a more flexible rear portion than is present in the stiffener shown in Fig. 1.

In both the construction shown in Fig. 1 and that shown in Fig. 2', two unreinforced regionsare present, one located on one side and the other upon the other side of a median longitudinal line through the -.stifl?ener-s.. In the :blank of Fig. 1, these .unreinforced regions are enclosed .respectivelybetween the dot-and-dashsline 23,25 anda portion of the line 17 and between the dot-and d a sh line .27; 29 :and another portion of. the line 17. 1n 2, the unreinforced regions are enclosed one between the dot-an'd-dash 'line 35,37 and a portion of the line 45 and the other;be-

tween the d-ot-and-dash line .39, 41 :z vnduan' othe'r'porti'on. of the line45. .1

The stiffener be reinforced in different ways. For example, a st-ifl'ener blank may becutvfrom porous sheet materialsuchos fab- Tic which has been lightly impregnated avith' one of the, well-known thermoplastic com po'unds inmse for making stiiffeners of the easy working type. The compound-may, for

instance, consist of .90 perce'nt .colophony and 10 per cent carnauba wax. not/fully impregnated, with the result that the stiffener blanks :are'capable of absorbing additional thermoplastic materi al; Such blanks may then beitreated in either of the followingways. *The region desired tobe reinforced may be coated, by use of alstenoil with a compound of lesser thermoplastieity than that of the original impregnant of the blank.v Forxexample, Montan wax or shellac 'may be used in .a molten -.cond=1 tion.

Alternatively the region desiredto be reinforced may be -covered by .a patch-of thinrstdfi fabric-suchas twill which, cemented to the The fabric is..-

body of the blank by heat and'pressure, will :give without undueinorease of thickness just :that small amount .of added strength neces- .sary to make an otherwise unreliable the-rthermoplastic compounds of relatively low thermoplasticity,.such as those named,.aneapt unless modified by admixture of oilyor resin- .ous substances to crumble or crack under flexure if not fully absorbed in the'body of 1 neoplastic stiffener sufficientlyrresistantto the to encounwax or shellac 'and'acting to :give toughness to the coating,.it being usual to find-that the blank or confined between and acting as a bond for fabric or like layers of the blank. For example, a stiffener blank cut from cotton cloth and incompletely impregnated with a compound of 90 per cent colophony and per cent carnauba wax may have applied to the desired region a patch of muslin heavily coated with a compound comprising per cent colophony and 50 per cent celluloid, and the patch and blank cemented into a unitary structure by heat and pressure. Although a stiffener having a unitary structure such as one of those which have been described above will preferably be employed, a two-part stiffener may be used. For example, an ordinary stiffener containing thermoplastic material of the easy working type may be assembled in the upper of a shoe along with a very thin sheet of celluloid of the outline desired for the reinforced region.

In all the examples given above it willbe understood that the stiffer port-ion of the blank in the reinforced region will be conformed to the toe portion of the last principally by the strong pulls exerted upon it during the pulling-over operation and that the less stiff portions in the unreinforced regions will be conformed to the last principally in the subsequent lasting operation.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A toe stiffener having regions of different degrees of thermoplasticity, there being a region of lesser thermoplasticity terminating at three points on the edge of the stiffener, and regions of greater thermoplasticity separated from each other by a portion of the region of lesser thermoplasticity.

2. A toe stiffener having regions of difierent degrees of thermoplasticity, there'being a region of lesser thermoplasticity terminating at three points located at the toe end and on the two sides of the stifiener and regions of greater thermoplasticity located one on.

one side and one on the other side of a median line extending lengthwise of the stiffener.

3. A toe stiffener having regions of different degrees of stiffness, there being a region of greater stiffness extending lengthwise of the stiffener from a locality in the forward portion of the stifiener to a locality spaced from the rear edge of the stiffener and thence crosswise of the stiffener, and two regions of a lesser degree of stiffness located meeting the first-named band substantially midway between its ends.

5. A toe stiflener comprising a porous base impregnated with a thermoplastic substance of a given degree of th-ermoplasticity, and having extending lengthwise of the stiffener a band comprising a thermoplastic substance having a lesser degree of thermoplasticity than that of the first-named substance.

6. A toe stiffener comprising a porous base impregnated with a thermoplastic substance of agiven degree of thermoplasticity, and

having extending crosswise adjacent to but spaced from the rear edge thereof a band comprising a thermoplastic substance having a lesser degree of thermoplasticity than that of the first-named substance.

7. A toe stiffener comprising a porous base impregnated with a thermoplastic substance of a given degree of thermoplasticity, and having two bands comprising a thermoplastic substancehaving a lesser degree of thermo plasticity than the first-named substance, one band extending crosswise of the stifiener and the other lengthwise, one end of the lengthwise band meeting the crosswise band.

8. A shoe the toe portion of which has regions of different degrees of stiffness, there being a region of greater stifiness extending from the toe end of the upper rearwardly and thence crosswise to the opposite sides of the shoe, and other regions of a lesser degree of stiffness adjacent to the stiff region.

9. A shoe the toe portion ofwhich has regions of different degrees of stifiness, there being a region of greater stiffness extending from the toe end of the upper rearwardly, and two regions of lesser stifiness located one on each side of the stifier region.

10. A toe stiffener having a reinforcement adapted to produce in the upper in which the stiffener is incorporated a region which is stiffer than other regions of the upper, said reinforcement being of less area than the stifiener and extending crosswise of the stiffener adjacent to the rear margin thereof and forwardly toward the toe end thereof.

11. A toe stiffener having a reinforcement adapted to produce in the upper in which the stiffener is incorporated a region which is stiffer than other regions of the upper, said i reinforcement comprising thermoplastic material, being -of less area than the stifiener and extending crosswise of the stiffener adjacent to the rear margin thereof and forwardly toward the toe end thereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. I

LUCIEN PAUL MELLERIO. 

